Pathfinder - The Occultist Handbook

Last Updated: December 6th, 2017

Disclaimer

I will use content from the core rules, but will intentionally omit any content not published
on the official Pathfinder SRD due to the
unmanageable volume of non-SRD content, and the wildly varying quality of non-SRD content.
If you would like me to write handbooks for specific content not published on the official
SRD, please email me and I will consider it on a case-by-case
basis. I will use the color coding scheme which has become common among Pathfinder build
handbooks. Also note that many colored items are also links to the Paizo SRD.

Red: Bad, useless options, or options which are extremely situational.

Orange: OK options, or useful options that only apply in rare circumstances

Green: Good options.

Blue: Fantastic options, often essential to the function of your character.

Temporary Note: Pathfinder Unchained and Occult Adventures were
both recently added to the SRD. I'm excited to explore them, and I am actively working
on adding their contents to my collection of handbooks. I appreciate your patience while
I make these changes.

Introduction

I'm going to start this guide with an unusual warning: The Occultist is complicated.
It has a lot of abilities which interact with each other in complicated and strange ways
that can often be difficult to track. Expect to spend a lot of time calculating and
re-calculating bonuses and modifiers throughout a normal day of adventuring. You will
need to very carefully track numerous independent pools of resources, and the occultist
grows in complexity very quickly as it gains levels.

Functionally, it's hard to say where the Occultist fits in the party. It doesn't
have the class skills to be a Scout, but it can get the ones it's missing with traits.
It doesn't have the skills to be a librarian, but it can get the ones it's missing
with traits. It has almost no offensive abilities, so it can't be a Striker
unless you invest all of your feats in becoming one. In medium armor and with no
melee abilities to speak of, the Occoltist isn't a Defender. The Evocation school offers some
blasting options, but the class doesn't have the spells to be a real Blaster. So
without a bunch of hand holding and effort, the Occultist's best roles are as a
Support and Utility casting character, and even then it's difficult to see how the
Occultist really shines.

All told, the Occultist is complicated, lacks a clearly defined function, and
doesn't do anything especially useful or interesting. Honestly, I don't know what role
an Occultist has in a party.

Occultist Class Features

Hit Points: d8 hit points isn't a lot, but with medium
armor you're at least as durable as a cleric.

Base Attack Bonus: 2/3 BAB is good for a class which
depends primarily on magical abilities.

Skills: 4+ skill ranks is great for an Intelligence-based
class, and with a skill list falling somewhere between the rogue and the wizard you
have plenty of options for your skill ranks.

Spell Casting: The occultist's spell casting is weird.
They're spontaneous casters, and their list of spells known grows every time they
learn a new implement school, and when they do that they need to select 10 levels of
spells to add to their spell list. Occultists are 2/3 casters so don't expect to get
by on save-or-suck spells or on blast spells; rely more heavily on utilityand buff
spells.

Mental Focus (Su): Your pool of focus points is the
biggest limiting factor on your abilities. Many focus powers are very good, but you
can eat through your focus points very quickly if you're not careful with them.
Investing your focus at the beginning of the day is also a major decision since it
defines what you get out of your resonant powers. If you're not sure what you'll
need in a given day, don't be afraid to reserve some "general focus" to use in a
pinch.

Magic Item Skill (Ex): UMD is the most powerful and
versatile skill in the game. Using items like scrolls to access magical options which
may otherwise be unavailable to your is a great trick, and a bonus like this makes
it much easier to quickly reach the UMD bonus you need to use it reliably. Combine
this with the Pragmatic Activator trait, and you're well on your way to mastering
UMD.

Object Reading (Su): The ability to identify items is
nice, but not particularly interesting since so many other characters can do it with
Detect Magic. The ability to learn things about the previous user is exciting, and
possibly a great story element. Unfortunately most of the time when an adventurer
encounters magic items its on the dead bodies of the previous user.

Shift Focus (Su): This is a last-resort option. You
want to do your absolute best to never use this. Transferring Focus out of an Implement
debuffs the discharged Implement, but doesn't buff the charged Implement, so not only
are you giving up a point of focus to make the transfer but you're also giving up
some or all of the buff from your discharged Implement.

Aura Sight (Su): Detect Evil is a fantastic ability for
Paladins: it lets them easily and almost unerringly locate and identify evil creatures.
Take that utility, remove the need to concentrate on a 90-degree cone for three rounds,
and open it up to all alignments simultaneously. Aura Sight is a 3rd-level spell for
good reason, and you get to do it as early as anyone else for free as often as you
like.

Magic Circles (Su): Magic circles of this type are
situational, but can be very potent if you have time to plan their use. Don't expect
to drag this into every encounter like you could with a Magic Circle Against X spell.

Outside Contact (Su): 3 hit dice won't get you anything
powerful, but the strength of the outsider you summon doesn't really matter for the
ability. Questioning an outsider for information can be a great way to gather information,
and you don't have the failure percentage issue presented by the Divination spell. You
also get gradually more information and more utility from your bound outsider as you
level.

Binding Circles (Su): This is a great way to trap foes
temporarily. Since you can't launch weapons into the circle without breaking it it's
hardly an execution chamber, but an hour is a long time to parlay with enemies who
might know quite a bit of useful information or to set up a suitable execution method.

Fast Circles (Su): The biggest limitation on the Occultist's
magic circles is that they take so much time to prepare. A full round action is still
a fairly restrictive amount of time in combat, but it's fast enough that you could
drop one to trap a troublesome foe, to repel summoned creatures, or to buff your
allies against a specific alignment.

Implement Mastery (Su):

Abilities

Occultists have very few built-in offensive options beyond weapons, which make weapons
an important backup when you don't want to use spells or focus powers. This means that the
choice between Strength and Dexterity is important. Occultist powers generally have short
ranges (generally 30 ft.) so being in melee is a real possibility. However, with only 2/3
BAB, no bonus feats, and no actual melee powers you're going to be a mediocre melee combatant
at best. As such, I advise going the Dexterity route and sticking to magic and ranged
weapons.

Str: If you plan to go into
melee, you want 14. If you insist on using a regular bow, 14 is good but 12 is fine.
Otherwise, dump to 7 and grab a crossbow.

Dex: In only medium armor you'll want to shoot for 16
Dexterity to fill out your Breastplate. If you're going for ranged weapons, take more.
If you're going for melee, get 12 and get Heavy Armor Proficiency.

Con: Essential on every character. If you like the Undead
Servant focus power, this is especially important since you only have 1d8 hit dice.

Int: Intelligence is the Occultist's most important ability
by far, fueling both your spells and your focus powers.

Wis: Take a bit for Will saves.

Cha: The Occultist is not a Face by any means, and you can
take the Pragmatic Activator trait to use Intelligence with UMD.

Strength-based

25 Point Buy

20 Point Buy

15 Point Buy

Elite Array

Str: 14

Dex: 12

Con: 14

Int: 16

Wis: 14

Cha: 8

Str: 14

Dex: 12

Con: 14

Int: 16

Wis: 12

Cha: 7

Str: 14

Dex: 12

Con: 14

Int: 15

Wis: 10

Cha: 7

Str: 14

Dex: 12

Con: 13

Int: 15

Wis: 10

Cha: 8

Crossbow

25 Point Buy

20 Point Buy

15 Point Buy

Elite Array

Str: 7

Dex: 14

Con: 16

Int: 18

Wis: 11

Cha: 7

Str: 7

Dex: 14

Con: 14

Int: 18

Wis: 11

Cha: 7

Str: 7

Dex: 14

Con: 16

Int: 17

Wis: 10

Cha: 7

Str: 8

Dex: 14

Con: 13

Int: 15

Wis: 12

Cha: 10

Races

Intelligence bonuses are hard to find among the base races, so look for other useful
bonuses.

Halfling: Dexterity bonus, small size, and the same
favored class bonus as elves. Still not as good as Elf, but a good option if you want
to be small.

Human: Flexible +2, bonus feat, bonus skills, and the
favored class bonus can get you an extra Focus Power (the equivalent of the Extra
Focus Power feat). Occultists are totally on their own to find combat options, which
means that you really want that extra feat to improve your combat options.

Traits

Look for traits which expand your class skills. If your party lacks a Scout, pick
up Stealth. If your party lacks a librarian, pick up some of the Knowledge Skills that
you don't already have.

Skills

Appraise (Int): Pay an NPC.

Diplomacy (Cha): The Occultist is not a face.

Disable Device (Dex): Every party needs someone who
can handle traps and locks.

Disguise (Cha): Just use magic.

Fly (Dex): One rank is rpobably enough.

Knowledge (arcana) (Int): One of the most improtant
knowledge skills.

Knowledge (engineering) (Int): One rank if you can spare
it.

Knowledge (history) (Int): Crucial in some campaigns,
but it depends heavily on your GM.

Knowledge (planes) (Int): Important for identifying
outsiders, and for planar travel, but not important in every game.

Knowledge (religion) (Int): One of the most improtant
knowledge skills.

Linguistics (Int):

Perception (Wis): The most rolled skill in the game.

Sense Motive (Wis):

Sleight of Hand (Dex):

Spellcraft (Int): Essential in any party and you have
the Intelligence to back it up.

Use Magic Device (Cha): The most powerful skill in
the game. Charisma is a dump stat for Occultists, but Magic Item Skill will easily
make up for dumped Charisma.

Feats

I won't touch on every feat you need to make the Occultis useful in combat. The
basic feat chains for Power Attack and for ranged weapons (Point-Blank shot, etc.)
are really easy to figure out, and Occultist doesn't have any unique interactions with
any of them. I'll point out stuff which the Occultist might enjoy more than other users
of the same feats, as well as Occultist-specific feats.

Extend Resonant Power: The abilities which you would
reasonably want to share can already be shared.

Extra Focus Power:: Most of the focus schools only
have one or two focus powers that are worth taking, but you get access to additional
focus schools over time, opening up numerous useful options.

Extra Mental Focus: Good at low levels, but if you're
and Elf or Halfling your favored class bonus is considerably better.

Focused Shot: If you're using a crossbow and don't
want to invest a bunch of feats into it, Focus Shot helps you capitalize on your
Intelligence. It only requires a standard action, leaving your move action for reloading.
Unfortunately it's not compatible with Vital Strike because activating either is its
own Standard Action.

Implement Focus: Unless you take this feat several times,
it's not meaningfully better than just comitting additional focus to your favorite
implement.

Weapons

Armor

Armor is presented in the order in which you should acquire it, rather than
alphabetical order.

Hide: Good, cheap starting armor if you don't
want to spend the gold to get four-mirrow.

Four-Mirror: The best AC bonus which you can
afford at first level.

Heavy Shield: Great for the AC bonus, but using
a heavy shield makes it difficult to cast spells because you need to drop your
weapon or shield to get a free hand. Of course, if you're using Energy Ray
instead of a weapon it really doesn't matter.

Breastplate: The same AC bonus as four-mirror, but
a slightly better ACP and lower weight.

Rods

Refocusing Rod: If you find that you use Shift
Focus frequently, this is a good investment. Otherwise, skip it.

Wondrous Items

Belt of physical stats: Your Intelligence is more
important, so don't rush to get one.

Cloak of Resistance: Too crucial to forego.

Headband of vast intelligence +2: Your most important
item.

Permanent Spells

Reduce Person: If you're built for ranged combat
you don't need Strength, so the bonus Dexterity and size bonuses to attack and
AC are fantastic.

Multiclassing and Prestige Classes

The Occultist is heavily dependent on Mental Focus, which requires that you stay
in the class to grow the pool. Occultist doesn't offer any useful abilities for class
dipping, either, so generally if you're an Occultist you're only an Occultist.